-The Hindu Study highlights the socio-economic impact of accidents There are more fatalities from road crashes among poor families rather than the rich shows a new World Bank study that highlights the socio-economic impact of road accidents — from access to post-accident medical care to coping with the financial distress caused by a mishap. In the study, low income households reported twice the numbers of deaths post-crash vis-À-vis high income households. The risk...

-The Telegraph Gandhi’s first satyAgraha for the cause of farmers stands in sharp contrast to the passage of the three farm laws today Mahatma Gandhi’s first satyAgraha in India was launched in Champaran in 1917 to save farmers from the exploitation of British indigo planters — the corporates of that era engaged in contract farming. The protest bears close resemblance to the farmers’ agitation against the three farm laws that were framed...

-Down to Earth blog The distress among small farmers in India is market-driven to a large extent in both ways — too much protection (minimum support price) or too little. The question of future of Indian agriculture has been around for some time now since the Agrarian distress and crisis in the sector. It has become important in the context of the spate of recent reforms that include permitting private wholesale markets,...

-The Telegraph The Union budget is an extended piece of fiction There is one central message of the Narendra Modi government to the people of India from Budget 2021-22: you will have to be ‘atmanirbhar’ because you’re on your own. The Central government does not have your back. In the midst of the worst health and economic crisis the country has faced since Independence, it will not protect you. It will not...

-The Hindu Farmer advocates not impressed by on-ground impact of budget announcements The Union Budget sent mixed signals to the tens of thousands of farmers who have been protesting on Delhi’s borders for the last two months, and the wider agricultural community. On the one hand, the budget allocation for the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare was slashed 8.5% in 2021-22. The flagship PM-KISAN scheme, meant to provide income support to...